# Garbage Disposal Units a US thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 31, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garbage-disposal-units-a-us-thing/523223 "2009-12-31T20:44:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garbage-disposal-units-a-us-thing/523223/61 "2010-01-03T00:24:04Z")
> [@Mindfield](#): > > If anything, I think now would be a good time for garbage disposal units, to save on the amount of waste you put out on the curb. Do people really save much quantity by using a garbage disposal? I don’t use it much, but if I did I don’t think it would save more than 5% of my waste. We eat what we cook - there is little waste. What organic waste we have will mostly not go down the unit anyway - bones, fish skins, potato/squash peelings. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garbage-disposal-units-a-us-thing/523223/62 "2010-01-03T00:24:45Z")
Well, if you don’t get garbage service, and bears are common, a garbage disposal is pretty much a must. We typically take the trash in to the transfer station about twice a month. In the winter it’s not to bad because we keep it in the shed, and it rarely gets above freezing for about 6 months. It freezes up real good. That’s the plan for the summer too. But the bears are out. I’ve replaced my shed door twice. I’m taking a new tactic in the summer and spreading crushed mothballs around the shed door. The garbage disposal really helps with the little bit of food waste that we would rather not put in the trash. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garbage-disposal-units-a-us-thing/523223/63 "2010-01-03T00:58:56Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > Do people really save much quantity by using a garbage disposal? I don’t use it much, but if I did I don’t think it would save more than 5% of my waste. We eat what we cook - there is little waste. What organic waste we have will mostly not go down the unit anyway - bones, fish skins, potato/squash peelings. Yeah, a lot of the stinky stuff. The only thing that comes to mind that I don’t put down are egg shells (not too stinky), bones (need special care not to be stinky), and corn husks (don’t get stinky). Why won’t you dispose fish skins (are you talking shark?) and potato skins? My God, that’s what disposals were created for! Okay, you say they won’t go down; I guess the question is, why not? I don’t have an issue with them. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garbage-disposal-units-a-us-thing/523223/64 "2010-01-03T07:45:53Z")
Another thing to keep out of disposals: raw chicken skin or fat. In fact, any raw animal product is a likely source of disposal woes. Oh, and those yellow plastic miniature corn cobs with the steel prongs that you stick into cobs of corn…if you are having corn on the cob for dinner, count the little buggers and make sure they are all accounted for before turning on the disposal. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garbage-disposal-units-a-us-thing/523223/65 "2010-01-03T12:23:13Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Yeah, a lot of the stinky stuff. The only thing that comes to mind that I don’t put down are egg shells (not too stinky), bones (need special care not to be stinky), and corn husks (don’t get stinky). Why won’t you dispose fish skins (are you talking shark?) and potato skins? My God, that’s what disposals were created for! Okay, you say they won’t go down; I guess the question is, why not? I don’t have an issue with them. I once attempted potato peelings. That resulted in the disposal blocking and barfing foul water all over the floor. After having the unit repaired, I was told that they were not designed for quantities of solid like that. I want fish skins out of the house immediately so they go straight in the trash - I don’t want them stinking up the kitchen by macerating them. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garbage-disposal-units-a-us-thing/523223/66 "2010-01-04T16:14:22Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > They used to be illegal in New York City for that reason. (Some people went and got them anyway. What are they gonna do, send a disposal inspector to look under everyone’s sink?) In one town here in Connecticut, that’s exactly what they did. Garbage disposals were banned because the wastewater treatment plant did not have sufficient capacity, and the they were trying to hold off on a multi-million dollar upgrade. Anyway, when a house was sold, it had to be inspected to make sure that a garbage disposal was not present. If one was present, it had to be removed. They also had a public relations campaign telling people the reasons for the ban, and that the town was being fined for permit violations. > [@friedo](#): > > Also not recommended if you have a septic system. We have a septic system at my house, and I wouldn’t even consider installing one. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garbage-disposal-units-a-us-thing/523223/67 "2010-01-04T16:29:37Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > _Infrastructurally_…The breakdown or clog risk is tiny, AFAIK. Main line sewers and sewage pumps clog all the time. The worst offenders are foods (especially fats, oils, and grease), and trash. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garbage-disposal-units-a-us-thing/523223/68 "2010-01-05T22:03:42Z")
> [@robby](#): > > In one town here in Connecticut, that’s exactly what they did. Garbage disposals were banned because the wastewater treatment plant did not have sufficient capacity, and the they were trying to hold off on a multi-million dollar upgrade. > > Anyway, when a house was sold, it had to be inspected to make sure that a garbage disposal was not present. If one was present, it had to be removed. They also had a public relations campaign telling people the reasons for the ban, and that the town was being fined for permit violations. When was this? I’ve live in CT my whole life (28) and I’ve never heard this and I’ve had a gargbage disposal in every home I lived in. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garbage-disposal-units-a-us-thing/523223/69 "2010-01-06T16:47:12Z")
> [@MichaelQReilly](#): > > When was this? I’ve live in CT my whole life (28) and I’ve never heard this and I’ve had a gargbage disposal in every home I lived in. It wasn’t the whole state, just one town (Hamden). This was about six years ago. Subsequently, the [Greater New Haven Water Pollution Control Authority](http://gnhwpca.org/) was created, of which Hamden is a member. The GNHWPCA has its own sewer ordinances, and it took over all of the sewers and wastewater treatment plants in the region. Currently, the GNHWPCA does not prohibit garbage grinders, but has strict controls on their use. From their [sewer ordinance (pdf)](http://gnhwpca.org/uploads/File/pdf/GNHWPCA%20-%20Sewer%20Ordinance%20revised%20February%2012,%202008.pdf): > [@](#): > > It shall be unlawful to discharge or cause to be discharged into any sanitary sewer any of the following described substances, materials, waters or wastes: …Garbage or wastes generated from garbage grinders, except those wastes generated in the preparation of foods that are generally consumed on the premises, and not unless it is ground garbage that has been properly comminuted or shredded to reduce all food scraps and like particles to three-sixteenths inch or less in greatest dimensions. Garbage grinders shall not be used for grinding plastics, paper products, garden refuse, hospital or veterinarian refuse, or similar refuse for disposal into a sanitary sewer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/garbage-disposal-units-a-us-thing/523223.md?page=3)